Category: Verses of Love

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Transgression – an act that goes against a law, rule, or code of conduct; an offense. Transgression is one of those “church words” we’ve heard all of our lives, but do we really understand? We know in our gut that transgression must be bad, but have we given much thought to the meaning? I looked up the etymology (history) of transgression. The word originates from Late Latin transgressionem (nominative transgressio) “a transgression of the law,” in classical Latin, “a going over, a going across,” the law. In other words, when we sin, we “go over” or “step over” the moral boundary God has established for us. Paul says, “we were dead in transgressions”. What does that mean to you? How is our life dead when we live in sin?

 

Ephesians 2:4-5

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,  made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

“MADE US ALIVE WITH CHRIST” We know that we were dead in our sin, and that by His grace we are saved and have eternal life. But I want you to think beyond just the salvation aspect of being alive in Christ. Once we become one with Jesus and begin the transformational process of dying to ourself, HE fills us with His Spirit. The more we die to our own ways and the pattern of the world, Christ fills our heart with His joy. Have you noticed this? Our joy is made complete through Him and though we still have struggles and people that upset us or do us wrong, we still have His joy in our heart.

What does being “alive with Christ” mean for you? Reflect on this today… I hope to see you tonight at Fuel! Jim

Ephesians 2:4-5

“God, who is rich in mercy”

Rich synonyms include; plentiful, abundant, lavish, generous, bountiful.

Mercy – compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.

When I put the synonyms for rich and the definition of mercy together, what jumps out to me is “abundant compassion”, “lavish forgiveness”! We have a Father in heaven who cares deeply about us. I hope you will allow this to permeate your heart today.

Ephesians 2:4-5 “Alive in Christ”

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”

Okay, you are going to find that I have a personal fondness for the Book of Ephesians. As we leave our study of 2 Corinthians 5:17 where we learned we are a New Creation, now we turn to a verse in Ephesians that reinforces the fact that being a new creation isn’t a singular event. Jesus is alive in us! As we live in Him, He lives in us. He is ACTIVE in our daily lives! I love the opening of Ephesians 2 and have shared it with you below to give you the full context of our study this week:

“1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Today we begin our focus on the opening words of Ephesians 2:4 – “BUT BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT LOVE FOR US”. Let’s pray on these words today. How great is His love for you?

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

I hope this next part of the verse gets you fired up! “THE NEW CREATION HAS COME”. You are a New Creation in Christ Jesus! Are you connecting the pieces together yet through the verses we’ve studied thus far? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then the Word became flesh, and He made His dwelling among us. John said they saw His Glory, the glory of the one and only Son, sent by the Father, and full of grace and truth. Because He is the way, and truth and life, we no longer lean on our own understanding but allow the Good Shepherd to guide our path. And because we have experienced Christ, and the fullness of His Love, we are in Him, we are a New Creation!

Have you experienced the love of Christ and know you have been transformed and are a New Creation? Pray over this today! Walk in the knowledge that you are a New Creation! If you haven’t felt that depth of Christ’s love yet, that’s okay. I didn’t find the love of Jesus until I was in my 30’s. BUT, if that is you, talk with Pastor Joe or me or one of the youth leaders. You don’t have to wait until your 30’s to experience the love of Christ and believe me, you don’t want to wait.

John 1:14

“who came from the Father”

John reiterates that Jesus came from the Father. He was sent on a rescue mission, a mission to free the captives, a mission to deliver the truth, a mission to show God’s unbridled love. God had a plan. He had a plan to send His son on the ultimate rescue mission for man. God sent the Son to execute the perfect, sacrificial mission to reconcile us back to Him.

Today as you reflect on these words, is there a rescue mission that needs to be executed in your life? Is there someone in your life that needs a rescue? Do you need a rescue? Jesus is still on assignment, performing rescue missions in the lives of those who are broken. He’s waiting on your assignment if you will seek Him through your prayer and worship.

 

John 1:1

“AND THE WORD WAS GOD”

Now we look at the final statement in John 1:1 – “AND THE WORD WAS GOD”. Let’s put this verse together: “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD” – “AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD” – “AND THE WORD WAS GOD”. Today I want us to dwell on the progression of the statements in John 1:1:

“IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD” – It always was, it always is, and always will be.

“AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD” – The co-existence we studied yesterday.

“AND THE WORD WAS GOD” – The oneness of the spirit.

I’m excited to have our new members join our journey with us! As I said last night, if you will take time each day to meditate on the portion of the verse we study each day, you will place the verse on your heart and you will have committed a new verse of God’s Word to memory. Use these words to replace any negative thoughts or worries during the day.   We have about sixteen weeks left in 2016, so we should learn sixteen verses by January 1st.

Along the way, if God speaks to you about a particular verse, use the comment option below to share it with us. As I have said before, I sure haven’t figured it all out yet, and I’m learning along the way with you.

John 1:1

“AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD”

Today we look at the next part of the verse – “AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD”. We have a conjunctive word “AND” at the beginning, tying the previous part of the verse – “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD”. The word “and” may not be particularly riveting, but in this sentence I get excited!  The “and” clearly implies that the Word or the spirit of Jesus was always with God, even at the “beginning” (Genesis 1:1). It foundationally lays out the Father and the Son were there together in the creation of the heavens and the earth.

As we learned in Romans 12:2 – “BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND”, our daily focus, even if only for a few minutes, on these words is transforming us. God reveals Himself through these words and we glean a deeper understanding of His perfection, His perfect love for us, and a greater sense of our purpose in serving Him. If these words speak to you, as they have to me, I encourage you to embrace what you hear God speaking to you and begin to walk it out in your daily life. You are a bright light to me and a blessing to me. Share that light with the people in your life and be a blessing. If this Bible verse study has been a positive part of your day, do you know others who would also benefit from learning God’s word? If so, share the link to this site. I hope we can begin adopting a new mindset -“We will leave no one behind.”

John 14:6 (Final Post)

John 14:6 “I AM THE WAY AND THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.”

Today we wrap up our focus and memorization of John 14:6. My post over the weekend failed to post, and I think it was God’s will for me to take more time in my own reflection and especially the last sentence from Jesus in this verse – “NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER EXCEPT THROUGH ME.”

If you haven’t figured it out yet, there are a lot of people searching for God, and there are a lot of religions in the world who claim they are the true faith and true belief in a god or gods. Walk through Barnes & Noble and you will find an exhaustive section of New Age/New Spirituality books. Believe me, Barnes & Noble wouldn’t carry all those books unless people were not buying them. There are also those who propose we should just ‘coexist’ as all religions ultimately lead us to God. That is simply not the case. As I have said before, I sure haven’t figured it all out by any means, but here are my thoughts on John 14:6:

Jesus says the only way to the Father, the only way for us to know God and the essence of His love for us is through Him. It is NOT a sign that Christianity is an “exclusive” religion. This is a gross misinterpretation. To the contrary, Jesus is showing the path for those who are seeking to connect with God. Through Christ, we see the essence of God and His love, something our human mind simply cannot comprehend. Through Christ, we are given the path to reconciliation with God and the path to a relationship with the Father.

This is again fundamental to our Christian walk. The great commission resonates in these words. Christianity is NOT an exclusive club. It is incumbent upon us who know the truth to share it with the lost. We just need to understand that ‘the lost’ are not simply people caught up in sin and addictions. The lost includes a lot of people searching for God, they are just misplaced in their search.  Many Hollywood celebrities have and are ‘promoting’ their new found spirituality through books, talk shows, and reality TV. This new found spirituality takes many forms; Tom Cruise’s faith is attached to a book written by a man in the 1950’s, the musician Sting chronicles an “out-of-body” experience he and his wife had while drinking a concoction during a tribal spiritual service in Brazil, Oprah has apparently become a devotee of Depak Chopra and his reconstituted spirituality of combining Eastern religions with New Age, “it’s all about me” thinking. They are lost and tragically they are leading many people they influence down a lost road as well.

You are going to be challenged over the next few years about your Christian faith and why you believe it is the truth. We are going to explore this together in our Bible Verse Study. You have been blessed to have the Christian foundation you have been given thus far. Don’t be lead astray. Don’t let the media, celebrities or others influence you away from your faith as I was over 30 years ago. Instead,  I encourage you to be the influence to bring them lovingly to the truth of Jesus Christ and the redemption of the Cross.

Happy Monday! Jim